Jesseca Kusher

Here’s a thing about me: I’m a perfectionist. I value organization and preparedness beyond the first principle of Leave No Trace– I see it as a lifestyle:

“Plan ahead and prepare.”

Sure, easy enough to teach in a wilderness setting — but ever elusive in the real world. No matter how much you prepare or plan things fall apart. The center cannot hold (thanks Robert Burns).

If you’re really prepared you can be flexible and learn to bend with each challenge instead of breaking down. Like a young sapling in the wake of a flood. You bend with the increased water pressure and straighten out when the added weight is gone. The ability to adapt is resilience. We talk about resilience quite a bit in the field of restoration ecology.

At the end of the day, I return to Robert Burns as his Truth ironically holds fast (translated from old English), “The best laid plans of mice and men are oft to go awry.” The only constant in life may be the lack of constants in life. Perspective is everything

I should be proud of what I accomplished this week in filming, but I can’t help but wish I could plan away the implantable. Truth be hold, just as AJ was bound by his cat, so I am bound by the Kokosing River. When she floods, I cannot film.

I was, however, very proud of my crew and stellar risk manager Catherine Jones as we filmed on the Kokosing on Tuesday (that feels like eons ago). While it was very cold, my actors were quick with the canoe, and even I had a chance to paddle around in my natural environment.

When it’s all said and done, I wrote this thesis because I am a whitewater canoer and I wanted an excuse to get out on the river in the middle of winter. Think I’m kidding? Absolutely not, I had the time of my life on Tuesday. I am most at home when kneeling in a canoe. I just wish the river wasn’t so temperamental.